Dresdner gloom as bankers fear dire bonuses

Friday 13 February 2009 09:48 BST

Dresdner Kleinwort bankers will be told just how appalling their bonuses are going to be by the end of next week, City Spy's man at Gresham Street says. An internal memo went around from divisional chief executive Michael Reuther admitting the decision making process was taking a long time and "creating uncertainty". And then some.

City Spy readers will recall that DK bankers were told of their bonus figures in December but, when the bank was then taken over by Commerzbank, the new owners decided they no longer stood, due to a "material adverse change" clause.

No private jets for Goldman

From this week's Congressional inquisition of bankers in Washington. "I'd like you to raise your hand if your company currently owns or leases a private plane," asked Congressman Brad Sherman of California. "Let the records show all the hands went up — except for the gentleman from Goldman Sachs."

* Goldman's annual Technology and Internet Conference is one of the industry's main shop windows with chief executives from more than 140 companies presenting "fireside chats" to investors and fund managers. But the three day event, which starts in a fortnight's time, has suddenly been shifted. It was due to take place in the Mandalay Bay Resort, complete with casino, Shark Reef Aquarium and 11-acre beach, in Las Vegas. Now, however, it has decamped to the far less glamorous sounding and presumably more in keeping with these times, San Francisco Marriott.

Oh, not another rights issue...

The City has known for weeks that big property firms would need to tap shareholders for extra funds to deal with the vicious downturn plaguing the industry. Hammerson and British Land led the way, asking for £584 million and £740 million respectively, and were given a warm(ish) response by investors.

Pressure is mounting on rivals such as Land Securities, Liberty International and Great Portland Estates to act quickly if they also need to raise funds. Concern is growing that "rights issue fatigue" may soon set in...

* Golly. Things in the housing market must be getting tough if Property Week decides to devote a double-page spread to writing about "alternative career choices" outside real estate. The picture looks even worse at closer glance: their best suggestions include finance, construction, and retail...

* Dodgy press release alert. One shameless company is promoting its life insurance policies as the ultimate Valentine's Day present. "We're not suggesting that romantics trade in romantic gestures for a spot of financial planning," begins Ian Smart of Bright Grey, at the start of his advice that romantics do in fact trade in romantic gestures for a spot of financial planning. "But," he goes on, his firm's life insurance policy might "have cupid's arrow hitting the mark" since "many view Valentine's Day as being overcommercialised". So that sounds like a big red card, with the message: Happy Valentine's darling — here's a little something in case I die. How romantic...

Tamara puts out positive

New York fashion week kicks off today, and it seems penny-pinching is the key trend of the season. Halston, where Tamara Mellon sits on the board, has joined the scores of fashion houses — including Vera Wang and Betsey Johnson — who have ditched their shows. Instead, Halston is simply sending a video out to editors via email. The Jimmy Choo queen tries to put a positive spin on it: "We thought this is another way forward. Particularly now, with the economic climate, a lot of people won't be travelling to see the shows. We need to bring the way of showing fashion into the modern day."

* Recently I heard a rumour that I didn't exist," writes Johnnie Boden. Eh? It never crossed City Spy's mind. Still... "So, to prove that I'm not a figment of some marketeer's imagination, I asked my designers to assemble some evidence. Some of the portraits are more flattering than others (particularly the one made of pasta), but I'm starting to wonder if they could do with a day off."

* Further to City Spy's piece about Aon's London-based aviation team laying on a skiing jolly for underwriters in the Austrian ski resort of Lech, Aon says it did not pay for the trip but some meals. City Spy is happy to clarify the position.

Mandelson has never had it so good

Business Secretary Lord Mandelson says how pleased he is to be back, mingling with his fellow Labour politicians.

"This week was my first time speaking to the Parliamentary Labour Party since Gordon decided to renationalise me last year," he declares. "And I enjoyed it very much. I have to say I am receiving a warmer welcome from party gatherings now than in my previous Cabinet incarnations."

It must be because everything is going so well at the moment, Peter...

* The new puritanism: Charles Moore, former Daily Telegraph editor and enthusiastic Catholic, writes in The Spectator: "I am not normally a great believer in the competence of the clergy, but is it a coincidence that HSBC is one of the very few big banks to have avoided scandal in the credit crunch and that its chairman, Stephen Green, is an ordained priest (Church of England)? No doubt Mr Green is subject to the normal temptations of Mammon, but his holy orders will have tended to provide a still, small voice of warning if he felt like paying himself £50 million a year, and they may have made his staff feel just that little bit more abashed when demanding money for themselves."

* Perhaps Moore and Green would like to serve up this prayer, doing the rounds:

Brown is my shepherd, I shall not work.He leadeth me beside still factories.He restoreth my faith in the Conservative Party.He guideth me to the path of unemployment.Yea, though I wait for my doleI own the bank that refuses me.Brown has anointed my income with taxesMy expenses runneth over my incomeSurely, poverty and hard living will follow me all the days of his termFrom hence forth we will live all the days of our lives in a rented homewith an overseas landlordI am glad I am British I am glad that I am freeBut I wish I was a dogAnd Brown was a tree...